Paralegal Blog

Are you evaluating your current professional status?  In a period of transition? Facing a job setback? Seeking new opportunities?

The paralegal profession relies heavily on communication. Writing competency for those who enter the profession is essential. Paralegals gather information and prepare a wide range of documents required to support, verify and complete a variety of legal transactions. Everything they draft - every correspondence they send - must be specifically tailored in a comprehensive and informative way that leaves no room for misrepresentation.

Law firms place a high value on writing skills when hiring paralegals, so it is common practice for a writing test to be requested during the interview phase. A writing test will typically measure a candidate’s ability to:

I returned to Center for Advanced Legal Studies (CALS) in July 2018 after a 10-year absence. In that decade, technological advances have re-shaped our program and content delivery giving students more choices for how they obtain their credentials. Learning still takes place in the classroom, but these days it can be completely virtual. Distance education and online platforms that were just emerging in 2009 have become mainstream.

What hasn’t changed? The paralegal profession is still strong!

According to the National Federation of Paralegal Associations, 85% of paralegals have formal paralegal training. For future paralegals, this statistic is critically important. Your likelihood of career success—from receiving an invitation to interview for a position, to earning a competitive salary—increases if you pursue an appropriate paralegal education.

However, with multiple training options available, and roughly 600 paralegal programs in the United States alone, determining the meaning of “appropriate” can be difficult. To assist you, the below is an introductory guide to how to become a paralegal.